The invention relates generally to structures for supporting cylindrical containers in horizontal rows, stacked in vertical relation. More specifically, a modular rack configuration for storing wine barrels, or the like, is disclosed.
Wine must be stored at a substantially constant temperature for extended periods of time for its taste and bouquet to mature fully. Through well known and commonly accepted practice, the wine is aged in wooden barrels housed within a temperature-stable building or cavern. From time to time during the aging period, the wooden barrels are washed to remove surface contaminants and the level of the contained wine is checked and replenished if necessary. Additionally, the aging wine is tested periodically for proper chemical composition and development. These maintenance and testing procedures necessitate repeated physical access to the bung, or stopper of each barrel.
Consequently, the storage racks for wine barrels have developed into specialized pallets, designed to be vertically stacked by means of a forklift to form a self supporting array. Representative of these specialized pallets for cradle supporting two or three barrels are the structures disclosed in Jay, U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,260, Malcher, U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,916, and in Ljungdahl, U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,733. These designs demand that for each barrel maintenance and wine testing operation performed throughout the aging period, individual pallets be successively removed from the existing array of pallets and then lowered to the ground. The barrel bungs and outer walls are then accessible for whatever washing, filling, and testing may be necessary. After completion, the pallets are again stacked to restore the array.
Certainly one drawback to the specialized pallet approach stems from the repetitious, but necessary, physical manipulation of the heavily laden pallets. The pallet unstacking and stacking jobs have proved both labor consuming and potentially dangerous for the forklift operator. These considerations aside, the array of vertically stacked pallets is not particularly stable itself. Since adjacent vertical rows of pallets are not structurally integrated, even a moderate earthquake can set the assemblage into motion and possibly effect its collapse. There are, in other words, certain disadvantages associated with the use of such pallets for stacking and storing wine barrels.